curry curry curry!

Our friend Nicola is here this weekend from Melbourne so we are living it up (someone please send matchsticks for my eyes!)

Last night we hosted a pot luck curry night - yum!

this is what we had (i forgot to take any pics :()

me!: basmati rice, jasmine rice, homemade naan, low fat butter chicken, vegie daal, pilau, kofte
L: potato and chickpea curry and pappadums
nicola: thai beef mussamun curry
C: low fat Thai Green chicken curry
N: beef vindaloo
H: red thai curry and lamb madras curry
A: beef rogan josh

and yummies to follow:
S: carrot cake
I: orange sorbet
T: punch & omni
A: pavlova
N: lemon meringue pie
L: cheese platter

it was such a lovely night - very loud as everyone chatted and chatted to catch up! even though canberra is not so big with all of us busy with young families (and some older teens too) and most of us working at least part time, we don't get to catch up as often as we'd like.

the meal was delicious and the desserts the perfect end lol

as for my food, i have stories to tell but i will post more tonight...

we are off to the hyatt for afternoon tea, which must be seen to be believed - i will TRY to remember to take pics of that at least!

my Blog Personality

thanks to Cath at the Canberra Cook i've been able to find out my blog's personality. pretty accurate for a cooking blog i think lol (i will have to test it on my other 2 blogs ;))


The analysis indicates that the author of http://brazen20au.blogspot.com/ is of the type:
ESFP - The Performers
[ESFP]
The entertaining and friendly type. They are especially attuned to pleasure and beauty and like to fill their surroundings with soft fabrics, bright colors and sweet smells. They live in the present moment and don´t like to plan ahead - they are always in risk of exhausting themselves.

The enjoy work that makes them able to help other people in a concrete and visible way. They tend to avoid conflicts and rarely initiate confrontation - qualities that can make it hard for them in management positions.

Analysis
This show what parts of the brain that were dominant during writing.
hmmm i can't copy that here but it's interesting - lots of Sensing (order, habit details) and Feeling (spirituality, rhythmn, harmony) and a little Thinking (logic, mathematics) which makes a lot of sense for a cooking blog!

Pumpkin & Chive Risotto (Thermomix)

based on the "Fresh Mushroom Risotto" from Thermomix's Everyday Cooking.... for every family!

50g parmesan
50g olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled & quartered
500g arborio rice
100g white wine
1100g water
2 Massell chicken or vegie stock cubes, or 2-3 tspns stock powder
400g pumpkin, peeled and diced into 1cm cubes
2/3 cup frozen baby peas (optional, i didn't have any :()
1/2 bunch chives, finely chopped

pulverise parmesan for 10 seconds on speed 9
remove to bowl and keep for serving
place onion in bowl and chop on speed 6 for 2 seconds
add oil and cook for 2 minutes at 100'c speed 1
add rice and wine and cook for 2 minutes at 100'c reverse speed 1
add stock & water and cook for 5 minutes at 100'c reverse speed 1
add pumpkin and cook for 12 minutes at 100'c reverse speed 1
pour the risotto into a large bowl, stir through the chives and parmesan and serve

Rory ate 3 or 4 serves (like double what i had if not more :-o)

Menu Plan (overdue!)

i have not had much luck with menu plans lately.... i either cna't be bothered to do one or i do it and it gets lost somewhere :S

here is what i can remember for this week:

sunday was pasta fagiole (tmx)
monday was a persian beef done in the slow cooker (which was too spicy in the end) with steamed green beans and pasta
tonight will be potato gnocchi with a roasted tomato sauce (hopefully, i'm not feelin much like making it atm)

then also on teh menu:
pumpkin and chive risotto (tmx)
chicken and capsicum fajitas
frittata with potatoes and any assorted veg we need to get rid of

saturday night i'm hosting a pot luck dinner for a friend who is visiting from melbourne, and a group of other girlfriends, we have a curry theme.
i'm making my low fat butter chicken, a vegie daal, rice and possibly some naan

Bruschetta

i love fresh homemade bruschetta! i'm not so keen on restaurant versions as they're never fresh enough and garlicky enough for my liking.

here is how i learned to make it when i lived in Italy (albeit from my english boss lol) oh and by the way the 'sch' sound in italian is actaully a hard sound so you say it like "broosketta" not (NOT NOT NOT) "brooshetta" (pet hate in case you didn't notice lol)

1 loaf firm italian bread, a day or 2 old is great, sliced about 1.5cm thick
a number of garlic cloves, peeled and halved lengthwise. larger ones are easier
good olive oil to drizzle

optional -
roma / plum tomatoes diced (removing the seeds is better but not when you're lazy like me lol), mixed with chopped fresh herbs of your choice
freshly ground salt and pepper

toast the bread on one (or both if you prefer or if it's really quite stale) side
rub the toasted side with the cut side of the garlic - be carefu not to do too much as too garlicky is hard to eat! you should get a few slices per half clove

if you're having the tomato mix put that on now (a single layer) and drizzle the lot with a little oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper

YUM!

Links - Biscuits & Cookies #2

link to first lot!

chocolate biscotti

chocolate chip cookies

Koulourakia (Greek Cookie Twists) with cardamom

spicy chewy molasses cookies

sunflower butter cookies

spiced holiday biscotti

cheese biscuits

Links - Meat Dishes #2

link to first lot

homemade breakfast sausage

asian peanut butter pork - slow cooker

Chicken & Cider Stew w/ Apple & Potato Mash

five spice pork belly

gosht do piaza (lamb with double onions)

dal gosht - spiced lamb with lentils

mongolian beef

chicken stewed in wine, garlic & cinnamon

caldo gallego (spanish soup with bacon & chorizos)

honey ginger chicken

truman capote's chicken hash

chicken with bacon, rosemary and lemon

leek and cheese (and mince) soup

Links - Sweets (cakes, slices, pancakes etc) #3

first lot of links
second lot of links

apple pancakes

big batch banana trail mix bread

buttermilk sweet potato pie

chocolate almond bars

chocolate cheesecake brownies

chocolate cream pie (aka chocolate bavarian pie)

pumpkin pie with pecan crumble topping

sweetened condensed milk cake

buttermilk lemon bars

lemon cupcakes filled with lemon curd

lemon torte

sweet potato muffins

Mandarin cranberry bread

apple fig & walnut bread

chewy chunky blondies

lime yoghurt cake

snickerdoodle blondies

ginger cherry chocolate chip bars

Christmas Cookies (basic & TMX)

I wanted to bake some cookies today to try to get a photo for our christmas cards done. Ryan also had his friend I coming over, along with I's mum & sister. so I decided to combine the two and let the kids decorate some cookies. (i decorated the ones for the photo shoot though lol)

I used this recipe, which had pretty good feedback.

by the way, i've decided to post all recipes on my blog, even though i'll link to the original. someone else reminded me that when i was cleaning out my links a few weeks ago i lost a LOT of them as the sites were no longer there. safer to keep them here, but will always give credit to where they came from, when that is still possible!

Basic Biscuit Dough

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Makes: 40 (we got about 25-30 larger cookies)

Ingredients:
* 250g butter, softened
* 1/2 cup icing sugar
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 egg, at room temperature
* 2 1/2 cups plain flour
* 1/2 cup cornflour

Method:
1. Using an electric hand mixer, beat butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and creamy. Add egg. Beat until well combined.
2. Sift flour and cornflour over butter mixture. Mix well. Divide in half. Press each half into a disc. Wrap each disc in baking paper. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 160°C. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Roll each disc out between 2 sheets of baking paper to 3mm-thick.
4. Using letter-shaped biscuit cutters, cut letters out of dough. Place onto trays. Roll leftover dough together and repeat. Refrigerate biscuits until firm. Bake for 15 minutes or until light golden. Stand on trays for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Notes & tips

* Hint: Dip cookie cutters into flour in between cutting each biscuit to prevent dough from sticking.


and the Thermomix version
Ingredients:
* 250g butter, softened
* 65g icing sugar (or make your own as per the instructions in the tmx book)
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 egg, at room temperature
* 440g plain flour
* 75g cornflour

Method:
1. mix butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and creamy. speed 4, 40-60 seconds. you might need to scrape down the bowl half way through.

2. Add egg and mix on speed 5 for 5 seconds.

3. Add flour and cornflour to butter mixture. Mix for approximately 60 seconds on the knead setting .

4. Divide in half. Press each half into a disc. Wrap each disc in baking paper. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.

5. Preheat oven to 160°C. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Roll each disc out between 2 sheets of baking paper to 3mm-thick.

6. Using biscuit cutters, cut dough. Place onto trays. Roll leftover dough together and repeat. Bake for 15 minutes or until light golden. Stand on trays for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

7. decorate with icing (approximately 1 cup sifted icing sugar, 1 tspn butter or marg and a tiny bit of hot water, plus drops of food colouring until you get the colour you want) and desired decorations - we used sprinkles / 100's & 1000's, some little candy hearts and silver cachous

Cranberry Cornmeal Pancakes

Using this recipe i made a nearly-core recipe for breakfast this morning. it was wayyyy too many cranberries though so i'll adjust that below :) i discovered at the last minute i was out of oranges so used a lemon which was good too.

rory absolutely loved them and ate more than me!!!



1 1/2 cups plain flour (or 1 cup flour and 1/2 cup processed oats)
1/2 cup polenta / cornmeal
2 tspns baking powder
2 tspns sugar (or splenda)
1/2 tspn bicarb soda
Pinch salt
2 eggs
juice of one small orange or one medium lemon
2 teaspoons finely grated orange / lemon zest, optional
1 cup skim milk
1/3-1/2 cup craisins

mix it all together!
spray a non-stick pan with cooking spray and heat over a medium-low heat.
put large spoonfuls in for pikelet sized pancakes. when they have mostly set and have bubbles on top flip to cook the other side.

I did have trouble working out the ww points for these because the recipe builder on the ww website works mostly in grams and i hadn't weighed anything. but the only non-core ingredients are the flour and craisins.

Whisky Truffles

these are great to make for christmas! (originally from a an ABC TV recipe, possible Ian Parmenter, it's been about 6 years since i last made them!)

Whiskey Truffles
Ingredients
400g dark chocolate, melted in a bowl over hot water
150g condensed milk
75g melted butter
75ml Irish whiskey (less if too strong (I wanted to add more!), alternatives can be used, such as brandy or orange liqueur)
chocolate granules, and / or cocoa, for coating

Method

• add condensed milk and melted butter to mixer bowl and mix on slow speed
• add melted chocolate & whiskey, mix well
• pour onto tray lined with plastic (to a depth of about 20mm)
• place in refrigerator to set. When set, but into cubes and then roll into balls, about 3cm in diameter
• using your hands, roll truffle in chocolate granules or cocoa to coat and then place on plastic sheet to set
• allow to set for half an hour in cool area of room before placing in refrigerator for half an hour
• allow chocolates to regain room temperature before applying second coat if you want another layer

Shortbread (TMX)

time to start making some goodies for christmas gifts...

step one was to try this shortbread recipe. posted on Forum Thermomix by CarolineW, it originally came from lobstersquad (though i can't work out how to go back to her older posts to find it there). oh, silly me, caroline already had posted the link

300g flour
100g sugar
200g butter (cold)
pinch salt

Preparation: Put flour into TM bowl first, add everything else on top, including any extra flavourings you want to use, eg lemon rind, pecans, etc. Blitz for 20 seconds on speed 6. Turn out crumbs and either press into a cake tin (loose bottomed or lined so can get it out again) or wrap in cling film and leave to rest in fridge for 30 minutes, after which you can cautiously roll it out and cut simple shapes.

Bake for 20 mins at 170 degrees C, until pale gold colour. DO NOT TRY TO TAKE OUT OF TIN until it's cooled for at least 10 mins. I say this from bitter experience! After that you can carefully transfer it to a cooling rack.

brazen's notes: i added macadamias but next time i will add them at the end on reverse as they just became powder and didn't add a lot of taste or any texture.
I will also try ann's idea of replacing 50g of flour with rice flour (which you can make in the tmx of course) as i always preferred shortbreads with rice flour in them.
when you line your tin i suggest leaving overhanging ends to make it easier to get out of the tin, and leaving it in the tin til it's cold! otherwise it is very hard to get out!

it's been very popular in my house with everyone except ryan (who loves bought shortbread biccies but won't even touch it to taste lol). think it will look lovely in cellophane with ribbon tied on it.

some more recipes i plan on making for christmas...
chocolate biscotti
German cookies

i won't be making the rocky road til the last minute to minimise chances of it being eaten before then lol

Recipe Book Challenge #3

The talented Miss Mousey is next with book no 23....

oh this will be a REAL challenge, i think it will have to become a thermomix challenge!!

The book is Margaret Fulton's Book of Ices & Cold Desserts from 1983

OMG, is there a recipe in this book not made with cream???? lol (cream is very definitely not WW core ;)) recipe list here

ohhhh i think i'm going out for dessert next weekend - i think i might make the coffee granita :)

and then this book will be up for grabs, if anyone would like it :)

Spring Roll night (recipe challenge)

well i kind of did the challenge anyway lol

i didn't have all the ingredients the recipes called for and didn't have the time or energy to go and get them, so i just made them using what i had, out of my head ;)

i made Fresh Rice Paper Rolls and Baked Spring Rolls - both were delicious!

Fresh Rice Paper Rolls
serves4 as a main or 6-8 as an entree

1 chicken breast, poached and shredded
4 tabs hoisin sauce (i mixed the chicken and sauce together as i couldn't be bothered doing a dipping sauce*)
1 carrot, finely grated
1 cucumber, finely sliced or julienned
several lettuce leaves, finely shredded
fresh coriander
fresh mint and / or vietnamese mint
1 "slab" rice vermicelli, boiled for just a few minutes (or soak in boiling water)
also optional - i usually use steamed prawns and sliced, poached pork instead of chicken, toasted chopped peanuts, bean sprouts
1 packet rice paper

i use the rice paper 2 sheets at a time, it's much easier! (i like big fat rolls so it lets you do that too)
dip your rice paper into a large bowl of boiling water, turn it around to wet the whole thing. before it softens place it straight onto a damp tea towel.
place your toppings in the middle about 1.5" from the bottom of the paper
fold the bottom up, roll once, fold one side in, roll again. fold the other side then roll all the way to the top
serve as they are or with dipping sauce


Baked Spring Rolls
200g beef mince
1 medium onion, cut very finely
2 carrots, cut very finely
i also used a bunch of mizuna that i needed to use up
also optional: pork mince instead of the beef mince, dried chinese mushrooms soaked and finely shredded, cabbage, finely shredded, bean sprouts
1 packet spring roll wrappers, defrosted

heat a little oil in a wok or frying pan. over a fairly high heat cook your ingredients, breaking the meat up as small as possible. when it's mostly brown take it off the heat and let it cool down

take your wrappers out of the packet and put them inside a folded damp tea towel. carefully separate them one at time and place on top of the tea towel. place a heaped spoonful onto the bottom middle of the wrapper and wrap as for the rice paper rolls.

brush a little egg yolk across the top of each wrapper to 'glue' it closed

you can either deep or shallow fry them, or i baked them in a 220'c oven, sprinkled a little olive oil over them and brushed them all with egg yolk. bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. serve with dipping sauce

we also did this one often without cooking the ingredients first, and would add a little ground black pepper and fish sauce for flavour.


Dipping Sauces
i usually do a choice of 2:
hoisin mixed with a little sesame oil, hot water and chopped roasted peanuts
fish sauce mixed with very finely chopped chilli and garlic, some sugar, vinegar and a little water. you can also add a little finely chopped coriander

you can also dip into sweet chilli sauce, or the kids dipped into plain old ordinary BBQ sauce

thanks dixie!

If you'd like to pick a book for me to cook from please post in the challenge post!

Biscotti for christmas

i was going to make these this afternoon but have just seen they last 2-3 weeks so will have to wait a while...

http://members.essentialbaby.com.au/index.php?showtopic=92071&hl=biscotti#

Biscotti for christmas

i was going to make these this afternoon but have just seen they last 2-3 weeks so will have to wait a while...

http://members.essentialbaby.com.au/index.php?showtopic=92071&hl=biscotti#

Christmas BBQ Lamb Cutlets

i know that lamb cutlets are generally horrendously expensive but that makes them a lovely treat for christmas! this recipe is really yummy - just don't burn them lol

CHRISTMAS BBQ LAMB CUTLETS
(For 18 cutlets)


1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup fresh rosemary, finely chopped
6 cloves garlic crushed
4 small red chillies, halved, deseeded and finely chopped
1/2 cup jellied cranberry sauce
18 trimmed lamb cutlets

Combine ingredients and marinate cutlets overnight

Grease bbq plate and preheat to medium high.

Cook cutlets, basting occasionally with marinade, for 4 mins on each side for medium.

Serve immediately

(i've tagged this gluten free as i'm assuming cranberry sauce is GF. will confirm later)

White Chocolate Rocky Road, tupperware version

375g white cooking chocolate, chopped or broken into pieces
40g butter
25g vegetable shortening (copha), chopped
1 tbs orange or coffee flavoured liqueur (such as cointreau or kahlua)
75g / 1/2 cup pistachio nuts (salted or unsalted to taste)
20g 1/3 cup shredded coconut
150g white marshmallows
2 tbs extra shredded coconut

1. place the chocolate, butter, copha and liqueur in microwave on medium for 1-1.5 minutes. stir lightly until chocolate starts to melt
2. add nuts, coconut & marshmallows, lightly toss til just combined
3. pour into loaf form (tin) and press down well. scatter with extra coconut, lightly pressing in. refridgerate for 30 mins until set
4. invert onto a serving plate and cut into chunks to serve

variations: try adding chopping cherries, toasted sesame seeds or dark chocolate

p7 cook some more

White Chocolate Rocky Road, a christmas treat

at least in our house only eat it at christmas :)

this came from another forum but i'm not sure who originally posted it - thank you if you're reading! (all comments below belong to the original poster) this is a family favourite after a few christmases!

White Chocolate Rocky Road

400g good quality white chocolate
100g packet white marshmallows, halved
200g milk chocolate Toblerone, roughly chopped
150g rose flavoured Turkish Delight, chopped
1 cup roasted macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
1/2 cup dessicated cocnut

Line a 3cm deep, 11cm x 25.5cm lamington pan with baking paper.
Break white chocolate into squares. Place in heatproof microwave-safe bowl. Microwave, uncovered for 3-5mins on medium power, stirring every min with metal spoon or until meltd and smooth. Set aside to cool for 5 mins.
Add marshmallows, turkish delight, toblerone, nuts and coconut. Mix until well combined. Spread mixture into pan. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until set.

That is the official recipe but I'm slack and changed it a bit to make it easier. I just used choc melts and marshmallows that were pink & white. Instead of the turkish delight I used raspberry lollies. I only put 1 toblerone in too. I didn't actually measure anything - just guestimated!!! and the coconut got forgotten totally so I just sprinkled some on top. It still turned out alright.
This is the type of recipe that you can just change to suit you. You could use choc turkish delight, dried fruit like mango/pawpaw/cranberries or other lollies. Very simple but yummy!!!

Recipe Book Challenge #2

Ok, after making the yummy falafel last night thanks to karenmc, i'm moving onto the next book, which was #12 picked by dixie :)

it's a perfect week for it as i did no menu plan this week at all :S oh and very cool, i have been wanting to make vietnamese anyway!!!

#12 is "Vietnamese Cooking: recipes my mother taught me" by Anh Thu Stuart, 1987

i love this book because it is very authentic. how do i know? my boyfriend at uni was vietnamese and after i'd been going out with him for about 6 months his family arrived from vietnam (he and his brother had been boat people 10 years before). his mum taught me how to cook :) i love the freshness of vietnamese food, yum!

so this weekend i will make some spring rolls (i have wrappers in the freezer) and bbq pork balls to have in rice paper rolls. yummo!!! the thermomix will make the pork balls a breeze :D


if you'd like to have a pick please post in the original thread!

Felafel (Thermomix), recipe report and a freebie :D

recipe report:
these were surprisingly yummy! (i didn't trust the book for some reason lol) the only change i made was to use a 7 grain mix in place of breadcrumbs as mine smelled rancid - i hate bought breadcrumbs! (yes i know i could make my own but i either don't have stale bread or i forget about them in my freezer lol)

the mix was very sloppy and i think they might be better baked in a hot oven than fried.

we had ours with homemade tabouli and hommus (i didnt follow those recipes exactly but mostly. i used quinoa in the tabouli and it was pretty awful to be honest. though it might have been the old lemon that tastes bleh...)

the freebie:
as i had never used this book prior to this it is one that is going! who wants it?


the thermomix "recipe":
"recipe" because i wasn't very good at noting down what i did - especially after having to wait half an hour in the middle as i only had half the chickpeas i needed! lol oh and the reason the hommus looks like cement is because i used black tahini paste!


3 peeled garlic cloves
1 medium onion, quartered
2-3 sprigs parsley
2 x 310 can chickpeas, drained ****
5g dry breadcrumbs
1 1/2 tspns gluten flour
1 tspn cumin
1 tspn ground coriander
1/2 tspn salt
2 tabs breadcrumbs, extra **
1 tab oil

1. chop garlic on speed 6 for 5 seconds
2. scrape down, add onions and parsley and chop on speed 6 for 2 seconds
3. scrape down and chickpeas and chop on speed 6 for around 5-10 seconds
4. add remaining ingredients, except extra breadcrumbs and oil and mix on speed 6 for 5-10 seconds or until smooth
5. shape into 24 balls *** and coat in extra breadcrumbs
6. heat oil in non-stick frying pan and cook over medium heat until golden brown - OR in hot oven until golden brown
7. serve in pitta bread with tabouli, hummus and salad. allow 4 per person
   

**** i'm not really sure what to say here - i used 1.5 420g tins of chickpeas but discovered that the liquid is actually included in the weight of the tin!!! so not sure how many g of chickpeas i actually had...
** i needed heaps more
*** i only made about 12-15 lol oops




grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr i am so over blogger posting my pics at their original sizes - am i the only one with this problem???? THANKS MOUSEY!

Felafel (Recipe book challenge #1)

2 x 310 can chickpeas, drained
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tspn bottled crushed garlic
2 tabs chopped parsley
3 tspns dry breadcrumbs
1 1/2 tspns gluten flour
1 tspn cumin
1 tspn ground coriander
1/2 tspn salt
2 tabs breadcrumbs, etc
1 tab oil

1. lightly process chickpeas and onion in food processor or blender
2. transfer to bowl and add remaining ingredients, except extra breadcrumbs and oil. mix well
3. shape into 24 balls and coat in extra breadcrumbs
4. heat oil in non-stick frying pan and cook over medium heat until golden brown
5. serve in pitta bread with tabouli, hummus and salad. allow 4 per person

thermomix version to come.... :)

i forgot to say that of course this recipe comes from this book

i need to stop posting!

before i go to a social event attended by my stalkers LOL they always know already what i've cooked, no surprises lol

we had a lovely night, i am exhausted now. i disocvered that frozen berries sink in the cake weirdly...

Brown Rice Salad

we're going to a birthday party tonight for our friend and chiropracter Michael. his wife Kristen asked us all to bring a salad. at first i had planned to make the Asian Noodle Salad i seem to have become famous for, but realised that i can't eat it on the core plan! (and will need my points for other things ;)) so i decided to make a rice salad.

At first i was planning a typical rice salad, but decided to go with brown rice and maybe something a little different. Inpsired by this recipe i am making my salad with:

brown rice
sliced baby corn
finely diced red and green capsicum
pepitas
sunflower seeds
sliced black olives
sliced shallots / spring onions

i can't be bothered to do my own dressing as i'm feeling lazy and planning to make a cake (the kids' choice) to take too, so i'm just using a purchased fat-free italian dressing.

the berries on the cake are just frozen this time too :( i couldn't get any more blueberries this week at choku bai jo

Recipe Book Challenge #1

thanks to my gorgeous pink haired friend and fellow thermomix lover karenmc for selecting recipe book #43 which turned out to be "Health fast food - creative vegetarian cooking" by Sanitarium.

i have never made a recipe out of this book *blush*

i think i've had it on the menu plan a few times and not done it ever....

so a real challenge!

yeah, thanks Karen lol! ;p

ok, i have picked my recipe - i am going to try making my own falafels :) stay tuned....

if you'd like to pick a book for me to cook from, please post in this post about the challenge!

Low Fat but Absolutely Bloody Delicious Butter Chicken (Thermomix)

Note: this recipe is not working all that well atm, the chicken is ending up as mush. I will be working on improving it but please be warned!

UPDATE: try cutting the chicken into 4-6cm chunks, and use only speed 1 to cook. Please let me know if this works for you! it did for us, but I will cook it a few times before I make permanent changes to the recipe. Note that the larger chunks of chicken may require a longer cooking period.

this was a combo of the butter chicken recipe i'd posted before and the thermomix recipe. I'm assuming those of you (nicola ;)) who don't have a thermomix could make this on the stove top with a food processor or a mortar and pestle. sorry for the mix of grams and spoons with the spices! lol

10g cumin seeds
20g fennel seeds
2cm peeled fresh ginger
2-3 garlic cloves, peeled
2 tspns garam masala
2 tspns sweet paprika
2 tspns ground coriander
1 cinnamon stick
10 cardamom pods, bruised
1-2 tab oil
150g macadamia or cashew nuts
1 tin diced tomatoes or 4-5 fresh roma tomatoes (also add around 1/3 cup water if you use fresh)
3 ice cubes worth of tomato paste (lol probably 2-3 tabs)
1 kg chicken, cut into 2cm dice
2 tspns chicken or vegie stock powder (gluten free if needed)
½ cup plain yoghurt (i only had whole milk yoghurt so not sure how skim would go)

place cumin and fennel into tmx, dry roast 2 mins 100'c speed 1 place in bowl with other spices
place garlic and ginger in bowl, chop for 2-5 secs speed 7
add oil and spices and cook for 3 minutes at 100'c speed 1
add nuts and chop for 10-20 seconds speed 8
add tomatoes, tomato paste (still frozen is fine) and water if using, and puree for another 30 secs on speed 8
add all remaining ingredients except yoghurt, and cook for 15 minutes at 100'c reverse speed 3
add yoghurt and mix for 2 minutes reverse speed 3
and serve!

Serves 4-6

i served mine with a pumpkin and kale curry (*sob* geoff has just tole me he doesn't like kale *sob*) and basmati rice.

the curry was simple: some onion, garlic, ginger, black mustard seeds and turmeric gently fried with a little oil, add some water when it starts to stick, then add pumpkin and a tin of drained chickpeas. stir well several times, cover and cook over low heat until nearly done. put your greens on top and cover for several minutes until greens are wilted. mix well and serve.

Recipe Book Challenge! (i need your help!)

i need a bit of inspiration.... so i'm going to borrow someone's (i forget who, sorry!) idea and give it a twist...

i'm going to let YOU (anyone who reads this blog ;)) choose a recipe book every week / month (randomly, pick the number and i'll use the book it corresponds to) and i'll make at least one recipe from it, post about it, and then decide whether i should keep or clear the book!

so who's first? pick a number between... ummmmm 1 and 98 *blush* (i thought i'd stopped collecting!) and we'll get started :)

PS: if you want to see closer you can check my flickr

very cool wordle

i must say LOL a lot (lol)

Where's the green?

ooops! i forgot to put any green on the plate! by the time i realised i couldn't be bothered to do anything lol but this would be delicious with some steamed / sauteed spinach, green peas, beans or any other green that takes your fancy ;) (it's very very rare that i would serve a non-pasta or rice type meal without green, it felt very weird to eat it lol)


it did taste delicious though!! ryan and emelia polished their plates off nearly as quickly as me! (rora didn't eat a single bite for some weird reason, hope she's ok...)

smashed potatoes are so yum and on this ww core plan i am supposed to have 2 tspns of good oil per day. i struggle to add that most days! so i decided to make smashed potatoes, which you have seen elsewhere. if you make them on a tray (i used a baking dish taht was slightly too small) they look impressive for a special occasion, yet they're SO simple :D just steam / boil small scrubbed potatoes (i used nicola) til soft. grease a tray / dish. place potato in dish then squash them with something (i used a potato masher but they started to come out through the masher holes lol). drizzle olive oil over, season with salt and pepper as desired and sprinkle with smoked paprika. bake in a 200'c oven until golden with some cripsy bits.

carrots were baby carrots, peeled and halved. i wanted to make something like honey carrots but can't have honey on the core plan. i also decided to use the heat of the oven. place them in a baking dish with a lid - you want a dish that is just big enough to fit the carrots in. put in about 1-1.5cm of water, one crumbled chicken stock cube, and some sesame seeds. bake til just soft. (all the water evaporated from mine so i thought they'd be awful, especially without honey, but they were soooooo tender and sweet. yum

the sausages were made based on this recipe. i used:

1 small red onion
3 cloves of garlic
several sprigs of garlic

chop on speed 6. i had to scrape down a few times and do a few seconds at a time.

put in some bread crusts - i just used the ends leftover from this morning's loaf (ooops have just realised i wasn't supposed to have any more bread today. oh well, it would have been about 1/10th of a point's worth lol)

again speed 6 til you hear it stop hitting the sides. scrape down and repeat if desired.

add in 1kg premium beef mince (i would have made my own mince but i had mince in the fridge), 500g at a time. i had to use speed 4 to get it to mix thoroughly. just take the lid off and have a look through to make sure there are no unmixed parts.

take handfuls of the mix and roll into sausage shapes (or meatballs or whatever you want).

i cooked mine by placing on a rack, over a dish full of water and baking til brown all over.

this made enough for 2 meals for us.

Taste of summer

Lime
Originally uploaded by libraryman

by special request - the fruit dip i made for today's undercoverwear party i hosted :)

i'm sure you could do this in a food processor, but i of course did it in my thermomix ;)

some sugar (or icing sugar if you're not using a tmx) - maybe about 1/4-1/3 cup? whizz it up so it becomes icing sugar - about 10-20 seconds on speed 6 ???? (i really wasn't paying attention by this stage as all my guests were already there - so follow the basics in the book!!)

wash and cut the ends of 1 - 1/2 limes. put in the bowl and chop until as small as they'll get (we had the 'chunky bits problem' too, though everyone said it was fine, i'm wondering if it would be better to do this before the sugar?)

add in one tub of marscapone, mix for a few seconds and serve :)

i served with
firm brown pears
strawberries
bananas
pineapple
and melon

for those who are wondering this did NOT fit into the core plan lol i just had a few small dips to sample... luckily my guests ate all the rest so i had no leftovers to tempt me!

TM31+++

breakfast this morning was what i am calling TM31+++ bread ;p I made it so it fitted into my core plan which allows for 2 slices of wholegrain bread per day without using points.

i made the basic TM31 bread recipe, which is made by milling whole wheat (i use organic) in the thermomix. i upped the amount of it from 100g to 170g and then reduced the plain flour by that amount. i then added in approximately 1/4 cup each of a 7 grain mix i have, sunflower seeds, pepita seeds and poppy seeds.

when i mixed the dough i did it all on reverse so the seeds weren't chopped to smithereens :D it was very nice with some bacon and baked beans for a core plan friendly breakfast...



if you haven't already found me on facebook go check it out ! one more person and my feeds will go live (or something lol)

Blueberry Cake

oh gosh, i shouldn't have had a piece (which fitted into my ww plan) as now i want more more more!! lol

this is very nice - moist, not too sweet or rich and the blueberries i put in mine are DIVINE!

i used this recipe from Taste.

Spiced Cous Cous

Spiced Couscous (mum's version)

Serves 4 - 6

Really refreshing for summer - serve with Moroccan Chicken

1 tab extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tspn ground cumin
1/4 tspn salt
3/4 cup water or chicken stock
1/2 cup couscous
2 tabs chopped mint and/or parsley
2 ripe tomatoes, seeded & cubed
2 tspns lemon juice

1. heat oil, add ground cumin. heat through until fragrant.

2. add salt & stock and bring to the boil.

3. stir in the couscous and let the mixture stand, covered, off the heat for 5 minutes.

4. fluff mixture with fork and stir in mint, parsley, tomatoes and lemon juice.

5. season to taste.

Moroccan Chicken

Grilled Chicken with Moroccan Spices (mum's version)

Serves 4 - 6

An easy recipe from Karen’s mum.
Great to BBQ, serve with Spiced Couscous.

3 cloves garlic
2 tabs extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tspn ground cumin
1 tspn ground ginger
1 tspn coarse salt
1/2 tspn each ground paprika and cinnamon
freshly ground black pepper to taste
4-6 chicken breasts or pieces
butter, melted

1. wipe chicken pieces and remove excess fat

2. combine all spice mixture ingredients in large bowl. add chicken and coat with mix. marinate one hour.

3. arrange chicken on a hot oven grill and brush with melted butter.

4. grill over moderate heat for 10 minutes, then turn and cook for a further 6 minutes

A Moroccan inspired meal for a Summer night

i don't seem to have posted these recipes yet - i can't believe it!

the other night for dinner we had grilled chicken with moroccan spices, cous cous salad and a potato salad with a mix of potatoes including purple congoes :) this is based on a recipe from mum, which i will also post, but which is different from what i made.

grilled chicken with moroccan spices
to serve 6ish
3 chicken breasts, cut into tenderloin sized stripe
2 heaped tspns brazen's moroccan spice blend

cover the chicken all over with the spice blend and leave for 20 minutes or overnight.
grill on a bbq plate (we have an indoor grill, our bbq is broken :() until cooked through.

cous cous salad
maybe around 1 1/2 cups of uncooked cous cous
1 1/2 tspns cumin seeds
1 tspn coriander, ground
1 1/2 tspns chicken stock powder
water to cover (sorry i have no idea how much, maybe 2-3 cups?)
3 tomatoes, diced (remove seeds if you can be bothered)
1 lebanese cucumber, diced
a few sprigs mint, shredded
(other ingredients which would be good in this include half a finely diced red onion, currants - add to the water with the cous cous - and nuts such as cashews, pistachios etc)

bring the water to the boil. turn off heat and add in cous cous (at this stage you can remove extra water if you have too much - you want about 1cm above the level of the cous cous)
add spices and stock powder, stir and cover.

leave for 10 minutes or until all water is absorbed. stir with a fork to fluff and let cool for as long as possible.

mix through the rest of the ingredients and serve. you can eat it at the temperature it comes or chilled.

pretty potato salad
around 6-8 purple congo potatoes, scrubbed but not peeled
around 6-8 small potatoes suitable for a salad (i think i might have used nicola maybe), scrubbed but not peeled
half a finely diced red onion
few sprigs parsley, finely chopped
1/3 cup cashews, toasted *
1 tab olive oil
few tspns of dijon or seeded mustard, to taste
large squeeze of lemon juice
salt & pepper
optional - some crispy diced bacon would be great too

boil the potatoes until they are just cooked, let cool a little and cut into 1" pieces. let them cool as long as you can.

mix everything together well, though gently (you might find it easier to mix the dressing first)

* to toast the nuts just place them in over a medium-low heat in a small pan or pot. keep moving them around every few minutes so they don't burn. you can use the microwave but i find it much easier to burn them than on the stove.

PS: sorry about the picture, blogger is still not making them the size i want :(

sour cream fruit dip

on friday i went to a morning tea and wanted to take a fruit platter. i decided to make a dip to go with it, inspired by this apple dip. i didn't have any cream cheese but had a tub of sour cream so used that - it made a much runnier dip but it was fine :)

approximately:
1 tub lite sour cream
around 1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tspn vanilla bean paste

mix well until there are no lumps.
serve with cut up fruit to dip - i used apples, strawberries, bananas and rockmelon (cantaloupe)

Links - really sweet treats / gifts, fete & party food

apple dip

chocolate marshmallows

granny's fudge

crockpot gingerbread latte

peppermint meringues

sugar & spice candied nuts

mother goose popcorn

peanut butter fudge

peanut butter truffles

doodh badam - nutty milk

Links - Vegetarian / Vegetables #2

first list of links to try here http://brazen20au.blogspot.com/2008/07/links-vegetarian-vegetables.html

baked vegetable jalfrezi

Dhansak (eggplant, pumpkin & lentils, indian)

5 minute indian style cabbage

malai kofta

paneer tikka

Punjabi Aloo Gobi – Spiced Cauliflower and Potatoes

creamy black lentils

dani's greek style baked beans

red kidney bean curry

roasted garlic cauliflower

mediterranean carrot rolls & salad

sweet potato falafel with yoghurt tahini sauce

cauliflower & date curry

paneer pasanda

masoor dal with lemon

malai kofta

draft - Chicken Cacciatore Thermomix

just drafting this for geoff to try, will update after he has made it :)
EDIT - please don't use this yet! while this is the exact recipe that is delicious in the slow cooker it was pretty ordinary in the tmx. stay tuned for a fix...

parsley
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 onion
olive oil
2-3 chicken breasts, diced, tossed in seasoned flour (plain flour with salt & black pepper added)
1-2 carrots, 1 diced & 1 cut into 1" chunks
1-2 zucchini, diced & 1 cut into 1" chunks
1-2 green capsicums, diced
1/3 cup white wine
chicken stock powder or cube
passata or diced tomatoes - tinned, plus a few fresh if desired
olives - green and / or black, seeded, cut in half
rosemary - 1/2 tspn?
2 bay leaves
freshly ground black pepper

cook pasta
chop parsley for5-10 seconds on speed 6, remove to bowl
chop garlic for 2-5 seconds on speed 6 until you can hear them stop hitting the sides
chop onion, chunked (not diced) carrot & zucchini & half capsicum 5-10 seconds speed 6
scrape down sides and add olive oil - around 10g
cook 2 mins 100' speed 1
add chicken and carrot. cook 5 mins 100' reverse speed 2-3 (whatever you need to keep it moving)
add all other ingredients - zucchini and diced capsicum, white wine, stock, passata / diced tomatoes, olives, rosemary & bay leaves
cook 15 mins 100' reverse speed 2-3 (whatever you need to keep it moving)
add parsley & mix for a few seconds until mixed through
serve with spiral pasta


hmmm isn't there a recipe on the tmx site? better go check that out too ;)

Menu Plan

I know i haven't been in much lately, sorry! after our camping trip i was plain exhausted. add to that a bit of stress at work and whingey fighting children and i have been a bit busy....!

i have just (re)joined weight watchers too so my recipes and meal plans will be changing a little from now ;) (for those who are familiar with it I'll be mostly doing the core plan as counting points is too hard for me atm - i just forget more often than i remember)

dinners:
spag bol
homemade beef sausages with roasted potatoes & salad
pizza - vegie & ricotta for me, supreme for g and garlic parmesan for the kids
pasta with bacon & vegies
grilled asian chicken with stir fry veg and rice
lasagne with vegies and ricotta / cottage cheese
pasta e fagioli

lunches:
roasted sweet potato and moroccan rice (based on ww recipe)
chicken & salad rolls
tuna & rocket rolls

other:
melbourne cup day party food - homemade hommus, beetroot dip, rice crackers & vegie sticks, fruit & a sour cream dip

need to buy:
beef (whole scotch fillet)
little potatoes
ricotta
cottage cheese
bacon
chicken (lots)
brown rice
tuna in spring water
sour cream
carrots
celery
fruit for platter

i will update with links / recipes later this weekend :)